ART SHOW - My Lesson Contribution

The samples I brought to the art show were from an art lesson that I had designed for this course, then adapted to suit my practicum. The lesson actually became two: the first was a HACE lesson which was based on the story The Giving Tree where the students and I brainstormed the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships (using the story as an example). The HACE PLO is to: "identify characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships." The Fine Arts PLO is to: use a variety of image sources to create images, including observation, emotions, ideas and concepts, imagination, memories, and sensory experiences. Thus, I had the students think of a positive relationship in their life and write three characteristics of that relationship (with examples). One student for example wrote honesty as one of their characteristics and we tell each other about our day as the example. These had to be written on three of the leaves they created and then glued to the tree.

The students then used the relationships they chose to inspire their tree. This was the result!! (credit to Beatrice Michell for the photo)

 

ART SHOW

What a great experience!!

This art show felt so REAL. For our students and their families, I know it was an amazing experience. The parents of my students were all beaming with pride. I had three students who were chosen to present their artwork, and they were all able to come, with their pleased families in tow.

One parent was brought to tears because the assignment had been to create a tree sculpture that represented a relationship in the students' life and the boy had chosen his parents (most chose a friend). This was amazing to witness, to see the impact that a simple 'lesson' could have on a student and his family (similar to what I wrote about in my last post).

Another student arrived right at 4:00 with her parents and a grandparent who refused to let her move until they had taken nearly a dozen photos. The student looked quite proud and confused to be so much the centre of attention.

The third student almost wasn't able to come. I called in a favour of one of our classmates who knows the girl's family to ensure that they had a ride to UNBC. I found out afterwards that the girl (who is quite shy) hadn't even mentioned the event or her special invite to her family. I think it was a great experience for her, despite her discomfort to be celebrated the way that she was.

Each of these three experiences were so rich. Twice, I was asked by the parents to be in a photo with their child. It is amazing to me the way that art (and the celebration of art) can impact people. 
A great lesson for us as teachers, especially those who are most concerned with the emotional growth of our students,is to let art be one of the mediums to teach about emotion, and to connect with our students. Art is so unique as a school subject and must not be undervalued.



Thank you to all those who put in so much time, and creative thought into the decorations, the music, the programs, and setting the whole mood of the event. Thank you to my classmates that ensured all of my students were welcomed and greeted right at the door (one parent was quite impressed and made a point of it!). Thank you Willow for having the vision of this event, though for me (and others, I suspect) it was hard to imagine. Special Thanks to Katerina, Barb and Emma for creating such an enchanting ambiance to the event. Thank you Bea for the slideshow. There's too many to thank! Thank you EVERYONE!

(I only wonder if we should have invited our CT's? I think they would have enjoyed it.)

Practicum Experience

I mentioned in class a student who was completely disengaged throughout my practicum, had missed many days in class and even was suspended during my time there. This student put in the absolute minimum effort in everything he did and was considered academically below grade level.

In my third week, I taught my second art lesson. This was based on the spooky story they had written the week before. We had a discussion about realism, specifically when drawing trees. The students were expected to use a photo of a tree to make their drawing more realistic than the standard 'symbol' of a tree (criteria was for using line placement, shape, and line width, all concepts they had worked with before). The drawing had to have a tree in the centre of the picture, worked into a scene from their story.

In this lesson, the student had to be redirected a few times to stay on task. One of these times, I pointed out an aspect of the drawing that he had done really well. After a while, he started to put a little more effort into his drawing. Once he was finished, like all of the other students he needed to complete a self-assessment stating whether he was "Meeting" or "Not Yet Meeting" the expectations for the three criteria points. Then, for those that were determined "Not Yet Meeting", the students had to write what they could do next time. Although his drawing was perfectly acceptable, he had marked "Not Yet Meeting" for all of the criteria points. Without looking at the artwork, I explained that he needed to write what he could do next time to improve. He didn't respond, so I made a few suggestions of what he could write down. He took one of those suggestions and wrote it down identically, for each criteria point.

When I looked at his drawing, I saw that he had actually fulfilled all but one of the criteria points. I wrote on his form, and praised him verbally that he had done quite well on the assignment (a 'B') and that I could tell he had put effort in, and that he needed to give himself more credit. This was the first opportunity I had in three weeks to make a connection with this student. I lament the fact that I had no opportunity to act on it, and perpetuate the experience since my practicum had come to a close. I only hope that this student will see his own potential and perhaps having tasted success, be able to put effort into the other subjects.

It was a great experience for me to see the way that art can help us connect with students who might otherwise be disconnected from our classrooms. It's amazing to me, how art can affect people so differently. I spent my whole life believing that "I'm not creative" but once I discovered the joy I can have from sketching, I realized that there is no such thing as "not creative" - everyone has an opportunity to enhance their life in different ways, whether the creativity is tangible or not.

I know that this student has had a quite challenging life, like many in that classroom and that school. I found that I really enjoyed working in the inner city school, and it was connections like these, with students who have had very few (if any) positive relationships in their lives that I found most rewarding.